A.B., University of Missouri – Columbia; J.D., College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law
Thomas E. Zehnle is the founder of the Law Office of Thomas E. Zehnle located in Washington, DC. His practice focuses on defending individuals and entities in tax, white collar and civil litigation. Thomas has broad experience handling such matters, having practiced for more than 30 years as a defense lawyer, a federal prosecutor, and as the chief of a U.S. Department of Justice criminal enforcement section supervising tax and related financial fraud prosecutions across the United States. His clients include corporations and their directors and executives, partnerships, accounting firms and individuals who have been indicted or who are involved in federal grand jury investigations, regulatory actions and civil lawsuits.
Throughout his career, Thomas has tried numerous cases to verdict and has successfully handled investigations involving allegations of tax evasion, Bank Secrecy Act violations, accounting and securities fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, false claims, and Foreign Agents Registration Act violations. He regularly represents clients with respect to examinations of complex tax shelters and advises individual taxpayers, finance professionals and financial institutions regarding undisclosed foreign assets and accounts. Thomas has substantial experience conducting internal investigations of potential corporate misconduct. He has also been selected by companies and approved by federal and state agencies as an independent monitor and examiner on numerous occasions, and has conducted examinations of publicly-traded and private companies pursuant to mandates from the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and state enforcement agencies.
Over the years, Thomas has authored dozens of articles relating to tax, white collar, and civil litigation and has been quoted in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, BusinessWeek, Bloomberg News and BNA. He is a regular lecturer, appearing at conferences and seminars sponsored by the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Federal Bar Association, the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
Thomas has been recognized by Chambers USA (Tax Fraud (National)), The Legal 500 (White-Collar Criminal Defense; Tax Controversy), and International Tax Review (Tax Controversy Leaders – US). During his time in public service, he also received multiple outstanding attorney and honorary awards from the Justice Department and the IRS.